The Retrieval Squad
by Netbug-Archive
Summary: It was a mission for something so simple, and yet it symbolized so much to him. If only he wasn't himself. One shot.


Knitchick1979 (go check out hers fics sometime BTW) won a request from me said she wanted something DP related, but different. So, I decided to go AU, and kinda made things up as I went along, and this is what different turned out to be.

I'm actually pretty happy with it. Despite the strange scenario, and my worry I made a plot hole somewhere, it's actually pretty in character IMO. Why is it the stuff I do on impulse always seems better than the stuff I plan ahead of time? Ah, well.

* * *

The Retrieval Squad  
By Netbug009

_Entry 1. Recorded November 11th, 2060._

_My name is Danny Fenton, and I am just a normal kid._

The sound of feet moving across the ground as they walked was quiet. Thank goodness, seeing how there were only 2 of them in the entire city. The duo quickly found a building a pressed their backs against it when they noticed a pair of ghosts heading in their directions. "I thought I saw something," one of them said.

"For the hundredth time, there's nothing here. All the humans are either dead or ran for the hills and would have to be nuts to come back here." the other said with a sigh.

"But I swear, it didn't look like a ghost!"

"Then maybe it was a cat or something."

"No, it was taller than that."

"You're losing your mind."

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are. You need a vacation."

They both left after a moment, continuing to argue over the matter.

_I was born into the hands of tyrants. My parents were no different. They told me that our town was once normal. It was hard for me to believe, but I had no reason to think they were lying. When they told me about a time they had the right to speak up, to say what they felt without worry of getting killed over it, I found it hard to wrap my mind around. I still do._

"Okay, coast is clear," Danny said after watching the guards leave. "Ready to climb, Sam?"

"Ready when you are," Sam said, pulling out a grappling hook.

Danny nodded and took the device. He shot it up onto one of the many metal bars of Fenton Work's op center and grabbed Sam by the wrist, pulling them both skyward.

_But there was a problem._

Once they had both grabbed the bar, Danny pulled the hook's cord back in. A moment later, the worst possible thing that could have went wrong did; sirens went off.

_They spoke up anyway._

"Oh great!" Danny exclaimed, entering a panic.

"Well, don't just stand there! The ghosts will be here any minute! Come on!" Sam kicked at a window with her foot. "Great, strong glass." She pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed at the glass several times. It gained cracks each time and finally shattered. She immediately grabbed Danny and jumped inside, running deeper into the center.

"Let's find it fast!"

"You know, seeing how this is **your ** house, a few directions wouldn't hurt!"

"Oh, right! Go to the big tube over there and press the red button."

Sam took said directions, and found her and Danny zooming through the tube into the main house's living room. She groaned, unused to the dizzy feeling that came from use of the device. Danny didn't wait for Sam to regain her composure and ran up the stairs towards his room. He pushed the door to said room open and immediately froze in fear.

An aged, vampire-like ghost stood before him, clapping slowly. "I must say slave, well done getting all the way here without getting caught, but as master over this town, you should know I have a pretty good grip on what my citizens are up to."

Sam ran up beside Danny and saw the ghost speaking to Danny. She gasped. "Vlad!"

"Glad to see my citizens also have a rough idea of who their leader is," Vlad replied. The duo couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. He put a hand in his pocket, and the two went into a defensive stance. But instead of a weapon, the ghost pulled out a picture frame. " I believe this is what you are looking for?"

Danny glared at Vlad. The picture was covered in dust, but Danny immediately recognized it. It was a photo of his parents, his sister and him as a child. Despite all the hardship average life help for them under Vlad's dictatorship, they had all smiled. It was one of the few times they had. "Give it back Plasmius."

"Why should I Daniel? I rule you, so isn't this mine after all?" He chuckled. "Besides, I can't have you clinging on to pitiful emotions like grief and love, now can I? Why do you think I got rid of them in the first place? Families are a great source of weakness, so I chose one person from each family and got rid of the rest of them. You should feel lucky that you weren't one of the ones I got rid of. Perhaps I should have.

Danny didn't respond. He simply continued to glare at Vlad.

Vlad sighed. "Guards, take him and the girl and put them in solitary confinement for a few days. I think they need to learn that this is my game, and there are punishments if you break my rules."

_But that's life here. There are no heroes, and there's nobody who can stand for good. We're all just a bunch of normal people._

Guard ghosts phased through the walls and grabbed both teenagers. A few hours later, Danny was in a cell alone, crying to himself.

_I can't help but wonder what my life would be like if I wasn't so normal._


End file.
